Q. What is your motto or maxim?

Q. How would you describe perfect happiness?

Q. What’s your greatest fear?

Q. If you could be anywhere in the world right now, where would you choose to be?

A. On a clifftop overlooking the Mediterranean watching the sunset

Q. With whom in history do you most identify?

A. Two forgotten men I found out about while writing Emancipation: Moses Hess and Solomon Maimon.

Q. Which living person do you most admire?

A. Nelson Mandela

Q. What are your most overused words or phrases?

A. Are you KIDDING me?

Q. What do you regret most?

A. That both my parents passed away before they could kvell over Emancipation

Q. If you could acquire any talent, what would it be?

A. To play piano like Sviatoslav Richter

Q. What’s your greatest flaw?

A. A pronounced tendency to see the glass half empty

Q. What’s your best quality?

A. An ability to imagine myself inside the shoes of someone from a different culture or historical era

Q. If you could be any person or thing, who or what would it be?

A. Conductor, Berlin Philharmonic

Q. What trait is most noticeable about you?

A. My speaking voice

Q. Who is your favorite fictional hero?

A. Captain Ahab

Q. Who is your favorite fictional villain?

A. Inspector Javert

Q. If you could meet any historical character, who would it be and what would you say to him or her?

A. Julius Caesar at the age of 30 as he stood at the foot of a statue of Alexander the Great weeping because Alexander had conquered the world by that age, and he, Julius, had done nothing. I would tell him, one late bloomer to another, your best days are ahead of you.

Q. What is your favorite occupation, when you’re not writing?

A. playing with my daughter

Q. What’s your fantasy profession?

A. concert pianist

Q. What 3 personal qualities are most important to you?

A. Intelligence, wit and loyalty

Q. If you could eat only one thing for the rest of your days, what would it be?

A. My wife's cooking

Q. What are your 5 favorite songs?

A. Oh, c'mon, only 5?!?! Darkness on the Edge of Town, Tangled up in Blue, Bob Dylan's Dream, Over Yonder (Steve Earle), People Get Ready (Curtis Mayfield)